# Extrinsic and intrinsic factors regulating commensal-specific T helper-17 cells

> **NIH NIH U01** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $494,153

## Abstract

Project Summary
 
It is now widely appreciated that gut commensal bacteria play a major role in health and disease. While
dysregulation of the intestinal flora has been shown to contribute to many autoimmune abnormalities, specific
relationships between particular microbial species and the state of host immunity have been unraveled for only
a small number of organisms. Recent studies have supported the notion that segmented filamentous bacterium
is a key gut commensal bacterium for driving mucosal Th17 responses, which is arguably one of the most
exciting discoveries in the field. However, there exist intense debates on key aspects of the development of
mucosal Th17 cells. Taking advantage of unique tools recently developed, we aim to address three important
questions: (1) Which cytokines are required for SFB-specific Th17 cell induction; (2) What are the specific
mucosal APC subsets that present bacterial antigens; and (3) How does antigen affinity of TCRs impact on
Th17 differentiation. The feasibility of this proposal is supported by (1) many unique tools that we developed,
including CD4 T cell hybridomas, novel TCR transgenic mice and transgenic Listeria monocytogenes; and (2)
our first-hand experience in mucosal immunology in general and with this experimental system in particular.
Insights to be derived from this project will be important for understanding and harnessing mucosal immune
responses.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10249650
- **Project number:** 7U01AI125859-06
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Bei Liu
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $494,153
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2016-06-21 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10249650

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10249650, Extrinsic and intrinsic factors regulating commensal-specific T helper-17 cells (7U01AI125859-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10249650. Licensed CC0.

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